


Felinus Interruptus

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 10:12:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5330324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy and Linus… the nanny probably thought that was cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Felinus Interruptus

Rafael hadn’t meant to scream like a woman. He hadn’t meant to scream like Daniel Stern in _Home Alone_ when that spider crawled across his face. It was impressive that he could even hit such a note since his balls had dropped nearly 30 years ago. He stumbled back, screaming, falling half on the couch and half on the floor. 

Noah was crying now, also frightened. Liv comforted her son. The creature was running around, having been dropped by Noah out of fear, and Rafael spent at least five minutes in a haze of confusion and utter disbelief. He tried to snap out of it as fast as possible. That was no easy feat.

“Noah, oh buddy I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to scream.” He scrambled to his feet, reaching for the toddler, who was still crying.

“No Barpa!” Noah put his hands out to push him away. “No.”

“I'm sorry.”

Then he sneezed. He sneezed once and then again. He felt his eyes starting to water and thought they might even be swelling. His throat felt like it was filled with the beast’s hair. Rafael looked down and the thing was curling around his feet. He didn’t want to freak out again even though he was moments from freaking out.

“Olivia? Liv, get the thing away from me! You gotta get it away from me before I die!”

“I know, I know.”

Liv rushed to put Noah in the playpen. He was still sniffling and was in no mood to be comforted by anyone but mommy. She scooped up the cat, who was grey and chubby, and rushed him off to the nursery. Rafael sat down on the couch and tried to breathe. He wasn’t sure if it was his allergy or the shock of seeing a cat. Liv went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water. She dropped two pills in his hand.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Are you going to ask too many questions and die or are you going to take it?”

Rafael nodded and took them both. Liv picked up Noah from the playpen and sat beside him on the couch. He knew it was Benadryl and it started to work relatively quickly. He needed to calm down, take some deep breaths. 

The past ten minutes had been quite chaotic. After the day in court Rafael had, he thought he would come to Liv’s and spend a nice quiet evening. He might even spend a passionate night. That wouldn’t be possible with that creature around.

“I'm sorry.” Liv said. “I am so sorry.”

“I'm sorry too. I didn’t see any of that coming.” Rafael looked at Noah. The kid had cat fur on his hands and tee shirt. Rafael was willing to take the risk. “I'm sorry Noah. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Noah wasn’t completely impressed but he did give Rafael a high five when he held up his hand. That made the ADA feel better. He and Noah got along well and he didn’t want this incident to make the boy fear him.

“I should've called and warned you but things just got so busy this evening. The cat belongs to Lucy. They are fumigating her building and she has to be out for three days. A friend is letting her stay with her but she couldn’t take her cat. I volunteered to keep him.”

“You volunteered?” Rafael raised an eyebrow. Luckily he managed not to raise his voice.

“Lucy goes above and beyond for me, Barba. It was the least I could do.”

“She is a great nanny, I agree 150%. But Liv, your boyfriend is deathly allergic to cats.”

“You just said allergic…you never said deathly allergic.” She said.

“Oh no, I recall saying deathly allergic. Would a man hit a note like Maria Callas if it wasn’t an emergency?”

“I am sorry.” Liv put her hand on his arm. “I really wanted to do this for Lucy after all she’s done for us. She was worried about Linus’ care in a kitty boarding facility. And Noah took to him so immediately that I thought it was just great. I can admit that while your issue did cross my mind, I didn’t fully take it into consideration.”

“I appreciate the admission. I can't stay here with the cat here.”

“I know.”

“Three days.” Rafael made a face and then he sneezed again.

“Bless you. Yeah, Lucy is going to be able to move back into her place on Sunday. The landlord said it should be safe for pets by then as well.”

“I can't come over for three days?”

“Maybe with Benadryl…”

“No.” he shook his head. “I will die, Liv, like the kid in _My Girl_ with the bees. Here lies Rafael Barba, whose loving girlfriend didn’t take his issue fully into consideration.”

“That’s not funny.” Liv said.

“No, but it is true. I wanted to spend the evening with you and Noah. I wanted to spend the night with you.”

Liv wanted to spend some time with him too. Work was busy and she had been working overtime for the past three days. She really hadn’t thought twice volunteering to keep the cat. A part of her felt bad for that now. Lucy was such a great person and nanny; Liv was glad she wouldn’t have to worry about her cat for the next few days. But it was still a pretty big inconvenience to someone else who was important to her and Noah.

“We’ll pack a bag and come to stay with you tomorrow.” She said. “I'm sure Linus will be OK on his own for one evening.”

“He seems to have taken a shine to Noah.” Rafael said.

“It’s given Noah an excuse to revisit puss…all evening long.”

“I’ll eventually live that down.”

“Doubtful.” Liv shook her head. She leaned and kissed Rafael’s lips. “I will make this up to you.”

“Can I admit that something dirty just went through my head?” he asked.

“Noah, you wanna give Barpa a big hug?” Liv asked her son. “He doesn’t feel so well and it would surely make him feel better.”

Noah nodded and jumped in his arms. All was forgiven; it was time for hugs and kisses and raspberries. Rafael kept him on his lap for a little while. There was cat dust and hair in the air, he wouldn’t be able to stay much longer, but he wanted this moment.

“Are you excited to have Linus staying here with you?” he asked.

“Yeah!” Noah exclaimed. “Puss.”

“Cat. Linus is a cat, Noah. Can you say cat?”

“Puss.” Noah repeated.

“I think he does that on purpose.” Rafael looked at Olivia.

“Probably. He's 20 months, has to find some way to entertain himself.”

“He spins around until he falls out. I would think that was fun.”

“I'm sure it has its moments.”

“I have to go.” Rafael said. He kissed the top of Noah’s head and then sat him down on the couch. “I've got to get home, shower, and burn this suit.”

“I need to apologize again.” Liv got up from the couch at the same time he did. They walked over to the door together. “I was supposed to tell you…we were supposed to avoid this worst case scenario.”

“I had flashbacks of the Lloyd incident.” 

“I absolutely promise to make this up to you.”

“All I want is you and Noah with me tomorrow night.” Rafael said. “That’s all the making up I need.”

“Are you sure there isn't anything else you need, Counselor?”

He wanted to smile when Liv put her arms around him but it really felt like he was going to have another sneezing attack. The Benadryl was working but his eyes were still itching. Rafael’s skin was crawling, he needed to get out of there. All the years of being allergic to cats had also created a bit of a phobia. Seeing a stray on the streets or one in a window or relaxing on someone’s porch or fire escape was one thing. 

Being in such close proximity to one that it touched him was something else entirely. He would never admit that fear to Liv, she knew about the allergy and that was enough. Well, he thought it was enough and then he met Linus. Lucy and Linus… the nanny probably thought that was cute. How had he managed not to go on sneezing fits when being around Lucy? He had no idea she even had a cat.

“I gotta go.” Rafael moved her arms from around his neck and kissed her mouth. Then he opened the front door. The almost fresh air was a blessing. “I wanna stay and talk sexy but I'm going to start sneezing again.”

“Call me when you get home, Rafi. I love you.”

“I love you too, mi amor. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Liv waved and watched him walk down the hall and then down the stairs. She closed the door, looking at Noah play with one of the couch pillows. She would let Linus out of the nursery and let him run around for the evening. Noah would have a good time; she'd have a good time watching him. Liv and Rafael would be together tomorrow and hopefully there wouldn’t be too much sneezing. She really did want to find the perfect way to make it up to him.

Fifteen minutes later as she was giving Noah his warm bottle before story and bedtime, Liv opened her fridge to see what she would eat. There was some leftover roast beef she could warm up and make a nice sandwich. Her cell phone started to buzz on the counter and she really hoped it wasn’t work. As the lieutenant she had a bit more leeway with not going in for some of the regular calls. It was actually a text message, and as soon as Liv read it, she smiled.

‘ _You have this blue thing, its lace and it’s like a camisole top and you wear it with these lacy boy shorts. That’s what I want you to pack for tomorrow evening. If we get Noah in bed on time we’ll have three hours to remind ourselves why that’s one of the best outfits ever_.’ –Rafael

Liv began to type out a response as she sat on the couch with Noah. He would drink his bottle and get his story at the same time.

‘ _I know exactly where it is and I’ll bring it along. You're going to be short of breath for a different reason tomorrow night, Counselor_.’ –Liv

‘ _I love you Liv. Kiss Noah goodnight for me and call me before you fall asleep_.’ –Rafael

‘ _I love you too. Will do_.’ –Liv

***


End file.
